Installing linux drivers and software, Understanding the control center status tab – Pololu Simple User Manual
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The Pololu Simple Motor Control Center running
under Linux.
3.2. Installing Linux Drivers and Software
You can download the Pololu Simple Motor Control
Center (SmcCenter) and the command-line utility
(SmcCmd) for Linux here:
(115k gz).
Unzip the tar/gzip archive by running “tar -xzvf” followed
by the name of the file. After following the instructions in
README.txt
, you can run the programs by executing
SmcCenter
and
SmcCmd
.
The Simple Motor Controller’s virtual serial port can be
used in Linux without any special driver installation. The
virtual serial port is managed by the cdc-acm kernel
module, whose source code you can find in your kernel’s
source code
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c
. When you
connect the Simple Motor Controller to the PC, the virtual
serial port should appear as a device with a name like
/dev/ttyACM0
(the number depends on how many other
ACM devices you have plugged in). You can use any
terminal program (such as kermit) to send commands and receive responses on those ports.
3.3. Understanding the Control Center Status Tab
After installing the software and drivers for the Simple Motor Controller, it is a good idea to run the Pololu Simple
Motor Control Center and look at the Status tab. The Status tab lets you monitor the status of your motor controller
in real time and control the speed of the motor. The Status tab also shows what errors and limits are affecting your
motor controller so it can help you quickly troubleshoot any issues you are having.
To use the Status tab, you should connect your Simple Motor Controller to your PC using a USB cable (not included)
and run the Pololu Simple Motor Control Center. This is what the Status tab should look like initially, before you have
modified any settings or connected anything to the Simple Motor Controller (besides USB):
Pololu Simple Motor Controller User's Guide
© 2001–2014 Pololu Corporation
3. Getting Started
Page 16 of 101